Linear Feet Siding Calculator

Board lap siding — clapboard, bevel, some wood products — is often priced and sold by the linear foot rather than the square. To go from your wall area to linear feet you need the exposure: the visible height of each course. Divide the wall's area by the exposure (in feet) and you get the total running length of board required, before waste.

This tool starts from your measured area and helps you translate it into the linear-foot figure a lumberyard needs, alongside the familiar square count so you can cross-check.

Linear feet ≈ wall area ÷ exposure. A 1,000 sq ft wall at a 6-inch (0.5 ft) exposure needs about 1,000 ÷ 0.5 = 2,000 linear feet of board before waste. A tighter exposure needs more.

Reliable enough to plan and shop with, and honest about its limits. The core arithmetic — area, openings, squares, waste — is exactly what an estimator or a building-supply desk uses, so the quantities are sound when your measurements are. The coverage and price defaults come from typical manufacturer specs and widely reported installed costs, not a single source, which is why we show ranges rather than false precision. Your final order should still be confirmed against a field measure and a real quote.

Your result above answers the main question. Before you buy, run through the practical points that most affect a calculate linear feet for siding project, so the number translates cleanly into a real order.

• Confirm coverage: the default coverage is a planning figure. Check the exact coverage printed on your product's box or spec sheet and adjust it if it differs, since even a small change moves the piece count on a big wall.
• Match the waste to your walls: keep 10% for a simple rectangular house, and raise it toward 15% for gables, dormers, bay windows and lots of angled cuts, because those details generate short offcuts you can't reuse.
• Account for accessories: starter strip, trim, inside and outside corners, flashing and fasteners are all part of a complete order, not an afterthought — the takeoff above estimates each so your material list is whole.
• Keep a spare: hold back a piece or a full box for future repairs, since profiles and colors get discontinued over time and an exact match years later is hard to find.
• Time your order: have material delivered close to the start date, stored flat and dry, so it isn't sitting exposed or getting damaged before the crew arrives.

Re-run the numbers above after any change and lean on the per-wall audit to verify each surface one at a time, so what you order matches what the wall actually needs rather than a rough guess. That small habit is the difference between one clean delivery and a mid-project trip back to the supplier.